Electrically conductive conjugated polymers show excellent charge transport properties making them desirable materials for nanostructured compositions. Many conjugated polymers have been fabricated into devices such as organic photovoltaics, light emitting diodes and field-effect transistors. The low band gap electronic structure of some conjugated polymers permits such polymers to be efficient electron donors due to enhanced absorption of visible and near-infrared light for exciton generation and subsequent transfer of charge to an electron acceptor, such as a C60 derivative.
Conjugated polymers are readily soluble in organic solvents and concomitantly insoluble in aqueous media. Such insolubility has limited application of conjugated polymer systems to a variety of applications requiring compatibility with aqueous solvents and/or phases, such as biological applications.